Macgregor among the 'unbeatens'

Four teams have an unbeaten record after the first day of competition at the 2010 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship. The 20 teams are split into two groups and all completed four flights on day one.

Despite a lackluster morning with a flattening northerly and a glassed-off bay, a spectacular 16 knot seabreeze unfolded where the cream started to rise to the top of the ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship.

Precisely predicted by Principal Race Officer Dr Robin Wallace, the wind darkened the mouth of the bay as the tide began to flood, and both Groups finished off four flights with head-to-head battles from stage one of the event .

Tied atop the Red Group leader board are Lucy Macgregor and Katie Spithill. It would be simple to call these two rivals, but any spectator today would have seen that in a steady wind, rarely shifting off 232 degrees, lead to even starts and finishes with teams broaching together on the line.

New Zealand's Samantha Osborne had one such finish, rolling Anne-Claire Le Berre of France within a boat length of the finish. "We started setting up for that move at the top mark, and it took the whole leg," said Osborne who is competing in her first ISF Women's Match Racing Worlds. "Match racing is like a fast chess game. You have to be thinking two to three steps ahead all the time."

In the Blue Group that did not start racing until around 15:00 (local time) the top ranked sailors in the fleet all won their first two races setting the stage for someone to fall. Anna Tunnicliffe and her team were the first of the top group to drop a race. A close loss to her US Sailing Team Alpha Graphics teammate Sally Barkow was a bitter pill to swallow but all sailors acknowledged that these are very early stages.

Australia's Nicky Souter, the defending champion, finished the day undefeated along with double world champion Claire Leroy (FRA) to join Lucy Macgregor and Katie Spithill with a 100% win rate.

If the first day is any sign of things to come, the rest of the week will be filled with photo finishes and daunting climb towards the finals as the weekend draws near.